This award always seems to
stay in the East. In 2011, in avote that was controversialwith many of my readers, I selected the
Yankees David Robertson over our own Jonathan Papelbon. Last year,
despite Baltimore's Jim Johnson leading the world in saves, Ivotedfor the Tampa's Francisco Rodney.
This year is no different. In early August I might have needed to pore
over stats carefully to determine who was most deserving, but after the way
Koji Uehara finished the season, this one is a no-brainer.

Pretty good, but here’s where it gets better. He was the 4th closer the Sox tried, after
season ending injuries to Hanrahan, Bailey and Miller. Here is what he did in the second half: In 29 games he pitched 32 innings, giving up 1
run(!) for an ERA of 0.28, and an OPS against of .231. He struck out 41 batters, while walking
one. You don’t need a calculator to
figure out his K:walk ratio. (hint: it's over 40!)

It's rare for relievers to have as much value as starters due to
how few innings they pitch in comparison. (and a reason I was a proponent for Bard
as a starter... even a #4 starter is likely to be more valuable than a closer,
I once argued - wrongly).

Anyhow, Koji ended up with a WAR(b-ref) of 3.6, besting
Lester who pitched 200+ innings and went 15-8 while accumulating 3.0 of
WAR.

To put this into historical context, when Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley won the
Cy Young award in 1992, he contributed a 2.9WAR and had a 10.5 K:BB ratio. His
career bests: WHIP 0.61 (1989), K/9 10.7
(1993) WAR 3.3*(1990). Koji
beat the Eck’s career bests all this year. Mariano Rivera’s career best WHIP was 0.67 in
2008, and ERA was 1.38 in 2005. Both
also beaten by Koji this season.

* As a reliever. He bested 7 as a starter for Boston in the late
1970s.

Uehara wasn’t just the best relief pitcher this year – He had a
historic season that on closer inspection may be one of the greatest relief
pitching accomplishments of all time!

His great season overshadowed some other excellent relief
performances. Kansas City’s Greg Holland,
recorded 47 saves while having an ERA of 1.21 and a K/9 close to 14. Jim Johnson again led the league in saves,
with his second straight 50 save season, but just like last year, I remain
unimpressed with his peripherals. Joe Nathan
saved all 43 games the Twins won (ok, maybe they won a few others), with a 1.39
ERA and a K/9 above 10. Grant Balfour
again headed the bullpen in Oakland who
surprised many by winning another division title.

My ballot:#1: Koji Uehara#2: Greg Holland#3: Joe Nathan

On a side note, I saw several bloggers selecting Mariano Rivera.
If this was a lifetime achievement award, then sure. He had a good but not great season. In fact
David Robertson was probably a more valuable member of the Yankee bullpen. Lower ERA, pitched more innings, same WAR,
more strikeouts, less home runs, same WHIP. An argument could be made that
Rivera was better than Robertson, but it would be close. And nobody has
mentioned Robertson for this award, so I’m not sure where the support for
Rivera is coming from. Before all the
hate mail from the Yankee fans comes in, let me just say that I have a lot of
respect for Mr. Rivera. One of the highlights
of my summer was being at Dodger Stadium in his last appearance there and
seeing Mrs. Jackie Robinson give him a video tribute.